China’s 8-day National Day holiday sparks travel
Travel Biz News —
China is expected to see 190 million railway trips during the 12-day travel rush, which lasts from Sept. 27 to Oct. 8 this year.
According to the China State Railway Group Co., Ltd., as of 6 p.m. on Sept. 20, 146 million train tickets had been sold nationwide since the presale of train tickets for this year’s “golden week” holiday began on Sept. 13.
The Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holiday will last from Sept. 29 to Oct. 6. This extended vacation period allows Chinese people to enjoy an eight-day break for travel and leisure.
“This might be the hottest National Day ‘golden week’ holiday ever,” said Dai Bin, president of China Tourism Academy. The institution predicted that over 100 million passenger trips are expected to be made across the country each day on average during the period.
According to Alibaba’s travel platform Fliggy, orders for domestic and overseas trips during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays surged nearly 600 percent and more than 20 times year on year, respectively.
According to statistics, during the eight-day holiday, nearly 100 concerts and performances will take place in Beijing, Shanghai, Foshan and other major cities in China, fuelling the local tourism boom. Fliggy said the cumulative hotel bookings for these cities during the holiday have soared approximately 500 percent compared with last year.
The Civil Aviation Administration of China has estimated that more than 21 million passengers will travel by air during the holiday. A total of 137,000 flights are expected to be handled, with an average of over 17,000 flights per day.
The travel fervor over the “golden week” exemplifies China’s great economic resilience, with all corners of the country harnessing the power of tourism to inject vitality into holiday consumption.
According to data from online platforms Meituan and Dianping, as of Sept. 20, tourism consumption orders on the platforms for the National Day “golden week” holiday doubled compared with 2019, and the number of restaurant reservations grew by 112 percent. – Xinhua
Photo – Visitors are seen at the Wangxian Valley Scenic Spot in Shangrao City, east China’s Jiangxi Province, Sept. 29, 2023. (Xinhua)
Sept. 30 , 2023
